External Evaluation of Tedera

Summary

A large collaborative project submitted MLA to develop the perennial legume tedera to fill the summer/autumn feed gap has been reviewed by an external panel for suitability for funding. The review panel concluded that the benefits of tedera for increasing livestock returns during summer and autumn must be clearly demonstrated before there is substantial research on other aspects, such as seeding agronomy, plant adaptation and grazing systems. The panel also concluded that the likely uptake of tedera by producers will be much less than claimed by the project proponents because of: 
1. the likely high cost of seed (over $100/ha) 
2. competition for pastures by existing species, such as lucerne 
3. competition for land use by cropping in most regions The panel considered that the most likely economic fit for tedera is in the lighter textured soils in the 400 to 600mm zones. 
The uptake of tedera is also more likely to be greater in Western Australia than elsewhere. The proposed research program has many components. These have been ranked into two priority groups. We recommend that only those components with priority 1 are funded initially. The priority 2 components should be funded only if results of the first phase indicate that tedera is likely to be a commercially viable business for seed growers and livestock producers. This assessment should also include outcomes of the RIRDC funded program on seed production. 
Priority 1 components are: 
1. seed increase for grazing trials 
2. a detailed sheep and lamb production trial in WA 
3. plant production to be assessed in this grazing trial 4. nutritive value of tedera Concerns about palatability also need to be addressed in this first phase. 
Priority 2 components include production agronomy and extensive grazing trials in Victoria and NSW as well as WA. 
The review panel considers that the research team has good scientific skills in some areas, and is already very familiar with tedera research. They are strong in plant breeding but their expertise is not as strong in agronomy and seed production. They also need more expertise in practical animal nutrition and animal husbandry. 
We recommend that there is additional expertise in practical animal production research on a steering committee for this program. There also needs to be more involvement of the broader livestock industry. There are concerns about the ability of the research leaders to manage a large multi-skilled project across a large geographic area if the proposed second phase of the project proceeds. A case is presented to support further development and promotion of pasture species currently available commercially.